The 71st Annual Hunger Games
by Aleksandryna-Zinnaella
Summary: Title says it all. SYOT. Rated T for violence. SYOT CLOSED!
1. SYOT Form

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything publicly recognised. No copyright infringement is intended.**

**Summary: The 71st Annual Hunger Games. Most characters from the books won't be in it, just the mentors and Capitol people. Slight Percy Jackson crossover, some tributes are demigods.**

NOT A CHAPTER!

This will be a Submit Your Own Tribute story, and I already know which gender and district the winner will be from. Please fill out this form and send your tributes to me via a PM. I won't accept any tributes sent in reviews.

**Name:**

**Age:**

**Gender:**

**District:**

**Reaped/Volunteered:**

**If volunteered, why:**

**Best Weapons (maximum 3):**

**Worst Weapons (minimum 2):**

**Personality (At least three full sentences):**

**Family:**

**Friends:**

**Strengths (maximum 5):**

**Weaknesses (minimum 2):**

**Fears (minimum 3):**

**Bio:**

**Appearance (At least three full sentences):**

**Godly Parent (If they have one):**

I will update as soon as I have a male and female tribute from one district, I will do one or two districts' reapings in a chapter.


	2. Chapter 1- Reaping District 6

Chapter 1- Reaping District 6

Jameson Spanner reassuringly squeezed his girlfriend's hand. Neither of them would be reaped, but Jameson knew that Shay was worried for her sisters.

"Don't worry, Shay. The tributes won't be any of us. It'll probably be someone we don't like. Everything will be fine. You'll see." Jameson softly said to his girlfriend, who straightened up and regained some of her usual sass. The young couple softly kissed each other before going to their sections of the crowd. Jameson glanced towards the crowd of families gathered to witness the reaping, searching the crowd for his mother and younger brother. He saw eleven year old Daniel staring at him and the two locked eyes. Jameson smiled softly, letting his brother know it would be alright, that he would get out of it. He heard the sound of a microphone being tapped, followed by the sharp screech of electrical feedback. Alithia Golde, the always smiling, always happy, escort from the Capitol, is standing on the stage.

"Hem hem," she starts, "Welcome, people of District Six, to the reaping for the 71st Annual Hunger Games! And, may the odds be ever in your favour. First things first, we have a video from the Capitol!" As Alithia spoke, the same video they saw every year came on to the screen.

Jameson zoned out until he heard Alithia say, "Well, wasn't that wonderful? We will now find out which lucky boy and which lucky girl will be competing for the title of Victor of the 71st Annual Hunger Games! Ladies first. Now, let's see…" Alithia's hand hovered over the girls' bowl, and Jameson was thinking _Not Shay. Please, not Shay. Anyone but Shay._ "Corophon Slede!" Alithia called. An athletic looking girl with short brown hair and blue eyes walked up to the stage. She looked confused, like she didn't understand what was going on. "How old are you, Corophon?" Alithia asked her.

"Seventeen years, four months and two days." Corophon's voice sounded strange, foreign, almost, as though she wasn't from District Six originally. Jameson couldn't help but smile at how precise she was with her age, almost like she was already counting down to her next birthday. Alithia let a high-pitched giggle.

"Now for the boys," she said, pulling a name out of the boys' bowl "Jameson Spanner!" Jameson froze. He looked round for Daniel, and started to bolt. He had almost reached his brother when two hands pinned him down.

"Are you Jameson Spanner?" a gruff voice asked. Jameson nodded, and the two Peacekeepers walked him up to the stage.

"Hello! How old are you?" Alithia asked cheerfully as the Peacekeepers let go of Jameson, who felt as shocked as the female tribute, Corophon, looked.

"Sixteen." Jameson said, trying to come to terms with what was happening.

"Well, isn't this wonderful?" Alithia asked rhetorically as the national anthem of Panem blared through the speakers. As the two teenagers were taken into custody, Jameson tried to start a conversation.

"Hi. What do you reckon the odds are of one of us winning?" he asked. Corophon stared at him blankly.

"There are 24 tributes. Districts One, Two and Four each have more than three times the number of victors District Six has. Also, if you add in the number of victors from Districts Three, Five and Seven, who all have about twice the number of victors District Six has. The remaining districts all have either the same number of victors or less. Therefore, there is a one in three hundred and sixty chance that one of us will survive." Corophon answered. Jameson had absolutely no idea what she had just said, but decided not to ask.

One hour. That was all he had to say goodbye. His first visitors were his mother, Daphne, and Daniel. Jameson threw his arms around his eleven year old brother.

"You're not to take out a tesserae," Jameson ordered his brother. "You can get by on the wages from the shop. And don't take anything they offer you. They'll only want repaying in some other way." He blinked back the tears that were threatening to fall. He couldn't show weakness. He couldn't let his family see how scared he was, it would only upset them more. And, most of all, he could _not _die. His family needed him.

"Jameson…" Daniel began, taking something out of his pocket. "You know how you're allowed to take a token from your district?" Jameson nodded. "I want you to have this." Daniel handed Jameson a small silver washer attached to a piece of thread, the type they used to clean equipment.

"I'll take it. I'm going to miss you so much." Jameson said, before turning to his mother and hugging her.

"Good luck. You have your father's way with words. You can win." His mother's words reassured him, but he couldn't stop thinking of what Corophon had said _one in three hundred and sixty chance of winning_. He could beat those odds. He knew he could.

His next visitor was Shay. They spent about half their time in a warm embrace, before Shay burst into tears and Jameson started murmuring words of reassurance in his girlfriend's ear.

Before they knew it, their time was up. Jameson kissed Shay one last time, before the Peacekeepers took her out of the room. Another Peacekeeper then escorted Jameson to the tribute train. He stiffened as he got on board: his father had died saving people in a train crash.

Jameson and Corophon passed the train ride in silence. They were both fine with that: Jameson was playing scenarios and strategies over in his head, while Corophon didn't like talking to strangers. After about seven hours, the train began to slow down. Jameson glanced out of the window and saw that they were arriving in the Capitol. There were many strangely-dressed people standing outside, watching as the train went past them and pulled in at the station. Jameson tentatively started to wave at them. He could tell this was going to be a long week…

**A/N: Hello! Thank you to Buttons301 for creating Jameson, and my dad for creating Corophon. This fic. will have a sponsorship system, which I will post details of on my profile. I will also post a list of tributes on my profile, so you can check to see if a spot has been filled before you send in a tribute. Anyone who can tell me in a PM with the subject 'Corophon Slede Anagram' what Corophon Slede is an anagram of, as well as who Corophon is (sort of) based on will get 50 sponsorship points! All reviews also get 50 sponsorship points, and they also encourage me to write more, so get reviewing!**


	3. Chapter 2- Reaping District 4

Chapter 2- Reaping District 4

Aiden Saer and his older sister Moira walked towards the crowd of teenagers waiting for the reaping to begin. Aiden spotted Moira's best friend Theresa waving, but he didn't mention it, because he wasn't ready for Moira to ditch him yet.

"I'm ditching you," Moira stated as soon as she noticed Theresa, "And you'd better not volunteer, because Theresa is, and she's stronger than you." With that, she turned and bolted towards Theresa. Aiden stuck his tongue out at her as she left, before bouncing over to his friends like a rubber ball that had just been lobbed by a professional shot-putter.

"How can you have so much energy on a day like this?" his friend Toadie asked. Toadie was the only person Aiden knew who had had to take out a tesserae, and, being the oldest of five with unemployed parents, had his name in there enough times that he was more than likely to get chosen. Aiden's smile dropped from his face. He'd forgotten how worked up Toadie got about the reaping. The boys stood in silence until Aphelandra Feather, District Four's Capitol escort, began talking in her rapid-fire machine-gun way, like she was punching everyone with words. She introduced the reaping so quickly Aiden had no idea what she'd said, but he could guess most of it. _71st Annual Hunger Games… Bravery… Honour… _It was always the same. Then Aiden zoned out during the normal movie they were shown. _War… Death… Destruction… _Aiden couldn't care less. He was grateful when the movie finally ended and Aphelandra squealed with excitement.

"Wasn't that exciting?" Aiden managed to decode from the rapid squeaking noise that was being emitted from Aphelandra. Aiden then made out something that vaguely sounded like "Now for your brave tributes!" as Aphelandra pulled a name out of the girls' bowl. "Aquamarine Blackrose!" Aphelandra enunciated slowly and carefully, and an extremely pretty girl who Aiden recognised as the smartest kid in his class walked up. "Any volunteers?" Aphelandra asked, and Aiden glanced round at Moira and Theresa.

Theresa pushed through the crowd with an arm raised and said "I volunteer!" Aphelandra smiled at Theresa, and Aquamarine Blackrose gave her a relieved and grateful look before returning back to the crowd.

"Very nice," Aphelandra said approvingly, "And what's your name?"

"Theresa Salem."

"How old are you, Theresa?"

"Sixteen."

Aphelandra smiled and said, "Very nice. Now for the boys!" Her fingers hovered over the boys' bowl, and Aiden noticed that Toadie's face was drained of colour. He squeezed his friend's hand reassuringly, and listened out for the name. "Aiden Saer!" Toadie's eyes snapped open.

"No." he murmured, as Aiden walked up to the stage. Aiden glanced back towards Moira, and saw tears falling down his sister's cheeks. When he reached the stage, he saw how pale Theresa was, and hoped for Moira's sake neither of them would cry at the prospect of possibly having to kill each other.

"How old are you?" Aphelandra asked with a smile.

"Fourteen." Aiden all but yelled, his usual bubbliness restored.

"Can the two of you please shake hands?" Aphelandra asked, though it was more an order, to which Aiden and Theresa obliged.

"Ready to get your ass kicked?" Aiden quietly asked Theresa, who glared at him.

The designated hour for saying goodbye went far too quickly for Aiden's liking. Moira came in and spent about half an hour just hugging him, before wishing him luck and saying that she would never forget him ("Thanks for the vote of confidence, sis." Aiden grumbled), and she was sorry for all the times she'd hurt him as a child. After she left, Toadie and Aiden's other friends, Max, Josh and Rubix, came. The five boys had a group hug before reminiscing on the crazy stuff they'd done over the years.

Theresa's goodbyes were very different. She spent the first half hour alone, as her mother was at sea, her uncle was busy preparing fish for the many families who would go to him even though his niece was in the Games and she had never known her father. After a while, Moira came in, tears in her eyes, and sobbed as she hugged Theresa. Theresa couldn't help but think _This is the first time Moira's ever taken anything seriously._ Theresa calmly chatted to Moira until the Peacekeepers came and said that the hour was over.

Theresa was led to the tribute train, where she saw that Aiden was already waiting, and had put his feet on a table. He grinned and lifted his glass of juice when he saw her.

"You really cannot take anything seriously, can you?" Theresa rhetorically asked. Aiden smirked and shrugged in response. Theresa rolled her eyes at his antics.

Theresa spent the train ride telling Aiden to calm down, thinking about strategies and sampling the amazing food, which was even nicer than the fresh fish she practically lived on, while Aiden decided to annoy Theresa as much as possible by teasing her about how stupid she must be to be friends with Moira, singing annoying songs he and his friends had written purely to annoy people and drinking orange juice.

At the end of the train ride, Aiden leapt up and gave the crowd of the Capitol citizens an insane grin and waved enthusiastically. Theresa smiled and waved, too, though she wasn't nearly as enthusiastic as Aiden. When the train pulled in at the station, Theresa started banging her head against the train wall.

"Why, why, why? Why did I volunteer?" she asked herself, and Aiden smirked.

"Feeling threatened by my awesomeness?" he asked her, grinning. Theresa glared at him in response. "I'm glad you volunteered," Aiden admitted about a minute later, after they were off the train. "I wouldn't have liked to kill the fittest girl in my class. Then I couldn't get with her when I win." he added as an afterthought. Theresa sighed exasperatedly and rolled her eyes. She suddenly couldn't wait to get into the arena, so she wouldn't have to put up with Aiden anymore.

**A/N: Hello and thank you for reading my fic! I would like to thank Firebird128 for both Aiden and Theresa. To the few people who gave answers to me about Corophon, Corophon Slede is an anagram of Sheldon Cooper, and that is who she is loosely based on.**


	4. Chapter 3- Reaping District 7

Chapter 3- Reaping District 7

Aoise, Katherine, Emilie and Zoe walked in silence towards the 15 year old section of the crowd of teenagers waiting for the reaping to be over and for them to go home. They gave each other nervous looks, and the people who knew them noticed that the group's usual cheerful, carefree vibes were missing, along with the regular mischievous twinkle in Aoise's blue eyes and Katherine's normal happy smile. Even Zoe wasn't bouncing like she had done every day since she learnt to walk. The Capitol escort for District Seven, Caius Fickle, was already on the stage, looking like an oversized woodlouse as usual. The girls' mentor, District Seven's most recent victor Johanna Mason, was sitting in her usual place, looking bored as usual.

"Hello, District Seven! It's that time of year again: two of you lucky kids will get the honour of competing in the Hunger Games! But, before we find out who they will be, we have a wonderful video all the way from the Capitol for you! Here it is." Caius bubbled, and the video began to play. Zoe, as usual, joined in with the words, despite the fact that she and her friends all had their names in far too many times for them to be safe.

At the end of the video, Caius smiled and said, "Wasn't that wonderful? Now it's time for us all to find out which lucky boy and which lucky girl will get to compete in this year's Huger Games!" He delved his hand into the girls' bowl and pulled one out from right at the bottom. "And our lucky girl is… Aoise Harte!" Emilie let out a small squeaky cry and a silent tear rolled down Katherine's face as Zoe hugged Aoise, who was desperately trying not to cry. She untangled herself from Zoe and walked slowly and shakily up to the stage. Johanna Mason smiled and nodded at her, and Aoise managed a weak smile back.

"How old are you, then?" Caius asked slowly, as though he was talking to a small child.

"F-fifteen." Aoise answered, trying to smile for her friends' and family's sakes. Caius smiled patronisingly, before delving into the boys' bowl.

"And our lucky boy is… Elijah Alder!" At this, a boy of about twelve with dark brown hair and glasses over his deep blue eyes walk up to the stage and took his place next to Aoise, his face crinkled in a frown. "How old are you?" Caius asked him kindly.

"Fourteen." Elijah growled, his fists clenched.

"How lovely." Caius said with a smile. "Can you two shake hands, please?" he asked, and Aoise and Elijah obliged, though Elijah seemed a little hesitant. Aoise smiled kindly at him, and his face relaxed a little, so that his frown was barely visible. The anthem of Panem played, and Aoise and Elijah were taken into custody.

Aoise hour for goodbyes was pretty awesome. After her mother, stepfather and half-sister Shannon left, all crying (though Shannon, being two years old, didn't understand the situation), Zoe, Katherine and Emilie came in.

"Do you remember the necklace I made out of the wood I stole and a piece of string?" Zoe asked. Aoise nodded, and Zoe took something out of her pocket. The necklace. A piece of string with a piece of walnut wood on it, carved into the shape of a sun. She handed it to Aoise, who shook her head and pushed it away.

"You spent hours on that. I couldn't just take it. And the wood isn't technically yours to give." Aoise said, but she knew how stubborn Zoe was, how she wouldn't be allowed to leave without it, and was secretly glad she had such good friends.

"Take it. I don't need it. I'm having a clear-out anyway, getting rid of everything I don't use." Zoe told her, though Aoise knew she did use it, as she wore it to school every day. "Besides, if any of my stolen materials are found, I'll be shot!" Zoe added, grinning. Aoise laughed, and Zoe stuck her hands back in her pockets, and pulled out three necklaces that matched the one she'd given Aoise, and handed on each to Emilie and Katherine, before putting one on herself. "And I _always _have spares. Now we match, and anyone who sees us will know we're rooting for you!" Aoise smiled and hugged her friends as the Peacekeepers came in to tell them the hour was up.

Aoise was taken to the tribute train, where she saw that Elijah was already waiting, and took a seat opposite him.

"Nervous?" she asked. Elijah looked up, then nodded.

"My parents already lost my older sister to the games; I don't want them to lose me too." he said with a sigh, and Aoise noticed that his eyes were red from crying. She started fiddling with Zoe's necklace, and Elijah looked at it inquisitively.

"Is that walnut?" he asked, and Aoise nodded. "I didn't know they made charms like that."

"_They _probably don't. My friend Zoe made it." Aoise told him.

"It's really good, better than some of the stuff made by the professionals." Elijah commented. "All my friends are good at is getting told off." he added as an afterthought, grinning. Aoise smiled. If they weren't facing their imminent death, they would probably be good friends.

The two continued to chat and joke, finding out about each other. Aoise learnt that Elijah's father, Burch, was one of the best paid people in the district, as he was a wood merchant (Aoise remembered that Zoe had once commented on how stupid one of the rich wood merchants, Burch Alder, was, because he left his displays out overnight, making it perfect for stealing), as well as that Elijah had two little twin sisters, Mika and Cherry, whom he was extremely protective of. Aoise told Elijah about how she had never known her real father, but that she had a wonderful stepfather who treated her as though he was her real father. Elijah thought that Aoise's two-year-old half-sister, Shannon sounded adorable, and laughed when Aoise showed him the scar on her wrist from when Shannon had used her as a teething ring.

Eventually, the train slowed down, but Aoise and Elijah didn't notice the screaming crowd of Capitol people because they were too busy talking. When the train pulled in, they continued to talk, and hadn't realised they were there until Johanna Mason told them to get off their butts, because they needed to meet their prep teams and stylists so that they could get ready for the opening ceremony that evening. The two teenagers laughed until they went off to meet their prep teams and be 'made pretty', both of them thinking that, under different circumstances, it would be the start of a long and happy friendship.

**A/N: Hello, and thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed it, because this one was the most fun to write so far! Thank you to TheChuckles for creating Elijah, and my real life best friend Aoife for creating Aoise (Aoise's friend Zoe was based on me, and woodwork is really one of my best subjects at school). I'm not sure which District the next chapter will be, as I don't have any more that have both tributes. Please submit your tributes, and remember that they can be absolutely pathetic, not everyone in the Games will be tough and good at fighting! There must be at least one total coward who can't use any weapons and can't do anything but cry and die!**


	5. Chapter 4- Reaping District 8

Chapter 4- Reaping District 8

Dusty Reznof bounced on his toes, trying to catch a glimpse of the excitement on stage. He had no idea why they put all the short people at the back. There were lots of people there, the whole of the district, in fact. Dusty didn't know what was going on, or why he couldn't stand with his parents and his sister. A funny looking man in strange clothes came on to the stage and started talking. His words confused Dusty, who didn't know why someone would talk about lucky brave people fighting each other. The funny man said something about a film from the Capitol, and a film started playing on a massive screen. _Magic! _Dusty thought, when he saw how the funny man had just said they were going to watch a film, and then the film started playing. Dusty had seen a film before, but it was just something that one of his teachers had made to show the class how to use a sewing machine, and the special effects hadn't been very good. But _these _special effects were great: Dusty thought they were amazing! He wondered how they made the people bleed so much, or how they got the babies to cry. He thought the weapons looked very real, and wondered how they could use them without killing the actors.

Just as Dusty was really getting into all of the violent action, the film ended. The funny man smiled and said that it was time to find out who the lucky, brave girl was. He put his hand in a see-through bowl full of little scraps of what looked to Dusty like the old cut-off rags used to clean the sewing machines in the factory and took one out.

The funny man said "Ida Reznof!" That made Dusty wonder why his sister's name had been called, and why she was going up to the stage. The funny man asked if there were any volunteers, but no one went up. Then, the funny man put his hand into a different see-through bowl identical to the first one and took out another cleaning rag. "Jack Berillio!" the funny man said, and a boy from Dusty's class went up to the stage, looking like he didn't want to be there.

The funny man asked for volunteers, and Dusty jumped up and down with his hand in the air shouting "Me, me, me! Pick me!" Everyone started laughing as Dusty went up to the stage.

"What's your name?" the funny man asked in a funny voice that Dusty was sure was fake.

"Dusty Reznof!" Dusty said excitedly. He didn't know what was going on, but it looked exciting and fun, and he didn't want to miss out.

"Are you brother and sister?" the funny man asked.

"Y-yes." Ida squeaked. The funny man smiled and asked Ida and Dusty to shake hands. Dusty looked confused, until Ida took his hand and showed him what to do. The anthem of Panem played, before Dusty and Ida went into the Justice Building.

Dusty and Ida had their hour for saying goodbye together, being brother and sister. Their parents came, saying that they were proud of Dusty for volunteering so that he could help his sister, although Dusty had no idea what they were talking about. Dusty became even more confused when Ida burst into tears: it was like they'd never see their parents again.

After the hour was over, Dusty and Ida were led to a long metal box with wheels.

"What's that?" Dusty asked his sister.

"A train. It's going to take us to the Capitol." Ida told him quietly, and he squealed with excitement.

"That big place that owns District 8?" Dusty questioned, eyes wide in awe. Ida nodded, and Dusty jumped up and down, clapping his hands.

During the train ride, Dusty and Ida sat next to each other, leaning against each other while Dusty asked extremely stupid questions and Ida quietly answered them. At the end of the ride, Ida glanced up at the gathered crowd of Capitol citizens and paled. She hated crowds. Dusty leapt up and started waving at them, and most of them waved back.

**A/N: As you have probably noticed, Dusty is not the sharpest tool in the box. Thank you to FireBird128 for both Dusty and Ida. Also, thank you to you, whoever you are, for reading my fic!**


	6. Chapter 5- Reaping District 2

Chapter 5- Reaping District 2

Caoimhe Castellan glanced back at her twin brother Cato and adoptive sister Clove as she lifted her feet up and glided smoothly over a stick.

"Slow down, Key!" Clove yelled exasperatedly as she chased the twelve year old, who just shook her head in response, grinning.

"If you don't, I'll tell Victoria that you want to wear a dress to the Reaping!" Cato threatened, and the smile dropped from Caoimhe's face. She stopped abruptly, almost falling off the skateboard as she did so. She trod on one end, flicking the other end up just enough for her to grab it and lift it up. Cato and Clove caught up with her, and began talking again.

"We should probably head back now. We only have an hour and a half until the Reaping starts." Clove said, and Cato and Caoimhe nodded in agreement.

"I concur." Caoimhe said, and Clove rolled her eyes. Cato seemed to realise something. He turned to Caoimhe.

"What have I told you about skateboarding without a helmet?" Cato asked her, and she smirked.

"Not to skateboard without a helmet." she responded, and Cato nodded. "You always say that. Why are you so protective of me?"

"You're my little sister." Cato answered bluntly, and Caoimhe glared at him.

"We're twins." she reminded him.

"You're still younger." Cato said.

"By twenty-three minutes!" Caoimhe exclaimed, and Cato shrugged.

"I'm still older. And, as your big brother, it's my job to keep you safe." he told her. She pondered that for a moment, before she had an idea.

"What if I get reaped? Will you volunteer for the boys so you can keep me safe?" she asked, smirking.

"You won't get reaped. We're the richest people of eligibility in the district, and some of the youngest." Cato answered, using the 'logic voice' Caoimhe always used when she answered Algebra questions in Maths class. She realised her brother was mocking her, and stuck her tongue out at him.

"So mature." Clove said with a sigh. "Come on, let's go home and get changed."

The three twelve year olds walked home, Caoimhe singing loudly, not seeming to notice the looks people were giving her.

"She's had too much sugar." Cato commented. Clove looked at him.

"Whose fault is that?" she asked. "You're the one who has a not-so-secret stash of sweets in your wardrobe!" Cato frowned.

"How did you know about those?" he asked, clearly confused. "I never told anyone about them."

"Except Jacob and Kyle." Clove reminded him as they walked through the gate and into their front garden. Clove reached into her pocket and pulled out a key. She inserted it into the keyhole and twisted it.

"I don't see why I'm not allowed one." Caoimhe commented as they entered their house. "'Key' _is_ my name, after all."

"It's your nickname, actually. And you're not allowed one because you can't be trusted. You'd trade it for sweets or fizzy drinks, like you did with my hamster!" Clove answered, glaring as she mentioned her hamster. Caoimhe frowned.

"The hamster was being abused. I gave it to someone who I knew would look after it properly. I only got sweets because I needed to check what sort of treats they had for it." she said, and Cato looked disbelievingly at her.

"You're mental." he observed as he walked up the stairs, the girls following him.

"That was established a long time ago." Clove commented, dragging out the _o_ of _long_ for effect. "I'm going to see what clothes Mum laid out for me." With that, she turned and walked off to her bedroom.

"See you in a minute, once I've ripped up all the dresses and told Victoria they're broken!" Caoimhe said, before bouncing away and entering her bedroom. Cato sighed and went to get changed.

About half an hour later, Cato and Clove were both ready to go, and were sitting in the house's main lounge, talking to their (Clove's real, Cato's adoptive) parents, when Caoimhe leapt onto the sofa between Cato and Clove with the force of a small whirlwind. Her adoptive mother, Victoria, gasped when she saw what Caoimhe was wearing.

"I laid out a dress for you!" she exclaimed, clearly horrified that Caoimhe was wearing not a dress, but a green short sleeved t-shirt that had the words _Fight Me! _on them in crimson writing styled to look like blood, a black leather jacket and a pair of jeans that had holes in the knees from when Caoimhe had fallen out of trees and off her skateboard. Clove giggled into her hand and Cato coughed loudly to cover his laughter when they saw her.

"It broke." Caoimhe said nonchalantly, shrugging. Cato and Clove could no longer contain their laughter.

"This is not funny!" Victoria cried shrilly, glaring at the pair. "The Reaping starts in ten minutes!"

"I guess there won't be time to brush my hair, then." Caoimhe said, smirking, as she slid her hand up her waist-length brown curls, which were already escaping out of their plait with the shorter wisps forming a frizz halo, trying to make them messier.

"Don't even get me started on that! If only we could postpone the Reaping. Then we could at least make you presentable!" Victoria shrieked. Her husband, Marcus, stood up and put his hands around her waist.

"Calm down. Caoimhe's only young. She probably doesn't understand the situation." he said softly, and Caoimhe frowned.

"I _do _understand the situation." she said loudly. "I'm just not going to wear a dress." Victoria looked disapprovingly at her.

"We must leave now, or we'll be late. But next year, Caoimhe, you _will_ wear a dress." she said threateningly.

"Not if I get reaped." Caoimhe replied, and everyone else gasped.

"Don't think like that! Your name is only in there once, you won't be reaped." Marcus said, wishing his adopted daughter wasn't so fascinated by the idea.

"With our luck, it will be me and Cato, and no one will volunteer." Caoimhe smirked as she spoke, clearly trying to wind up her family. She succeeded. Victoria and Marcus growled, Clove frowned and Cato's face drained of colour. It was no lie that the twins had exceptionally bad luck. The family walked out of the house, and Marcus locked it behind them.

About five minutes of walking later, they arrived at the Square, and Cato clamped his hand over Caoimhe's mouth to stop her from singing. He recognised the song; it was one that had been found on an old album discovered when some land had been dug up to build more houses. Many things had been found there, artefacts from when Panem was North America. Caoimhe had read all of the books, watched all of the movies and listened to all of the music, and rarely stopped spouting tunes and quotes from them. Marcus and Victoria said goodbye to the children and walked off to where the citizens of District 2 that weren't eligible watched the Reaping from. Cato hugged his sisters and walked off to the twelve year old boys' section.

"Good luck!" Clove said to him just before he turned away.

"You'll need it!" Caoimhe added, laughing, and Cato made a rude gesture at her. Clove rolled her eyes and dragged Caoimhe over to the twelve year old girls' section.

"I know you're nervous, and you make lame jokes when you're nervous, but _please_ stop. Cato's really worried." Clove said, frowning.

"I know. But the lame jokes make me not nervous!" Caoimhe told her as the Capitol escort for District 2, Orynthia Salver, walked onto the stage and tapped the microphone.

"Hello, District Two!" Orynthia said excitedly.

"Goodbye, weirdo." Caoimhe muttered, and Clove bit back a laugh. There were sniggers from the other twelve year old girls, and the thirteen year old girls and twelve year old boys looked round at them, giving them odd looks. Cato and Clove locked eyes for a moment, and Cato smirked, clearly understanding the silent message Clove was sending him.

"Welcome to the Reaping for the 71st Annual Hunger Games!" Orynthia said in her strange Capitol accent. "Before we find out who will be representing you this year, we have to watch this special video from the Capitol!" The usual video played, and Caoimhe, as usual, joined in with the words.

The video ended, and there was slow applause from some people as Orynthia clapped enthusiastically. Caoimhe mimicked her, over-exaggerating her expression. Laughter was heard from the other twelve year old girls.

"And now, we will find out which brave girl will be representing you this year." Orynthia said excitedly, dipping her hand into the girls' bowl. She pulled out a single slip of paper, one in thousands, and read out the name. "Caoimhe Castellan!" Caoimhe plastered a false but realistic-looking smile on her face, and walked up to the stage, trying to get people to high-five her as she went, but everyone was silent, shocked that one of the richest people in the district had been chosen. Clove had tears falling down her face as she watched her sister step onto the stage. Cato's friends Jacob and Kyle were supporting him as he struggled to stand, the shock of his twin sister being reaped hitting him like a truck. Orynthia asked for volunteers. Caoimhe was confident someone would come up; they always did. But this time, no one did. No one spoke. The only noises breaking the silence were the heartbroken sobs of Caoimhe's family. Caoimhe continued to smile, bouncing on her toes as she stood in front of the entire district.

"Hello!" Orynthia said cheerfully.

"Hey!" Caoimhe replied enthusiastically, glad she'd consumed enough sugar, caffeine and E-numbers that she couldn't help but sound happy, even if her voice was nowhere near as chipper as it normally was.

"How old are you?" Orynthia asked Caoimhe, who quickly informed her that she was twelve. "How sweet!" Orynthia exclaimed, before saying that it was the boys' turn. Her hand lingered over the scraps of paper in the boys' bowl for a moment, before pulling one out. "Cato Castellan!" Cato let out a strangled cry, before slowly and shakily walking up to the stage. A boy in the eighteen year old section laughed.

"Hey!" Caoimhe said to him and he attempted to smile at her.

"Are you two related?" Orynthia asked, and Cato nodded slightly.

"We're twins!" Caoimhe answered, taking her brother's hand and squeezing it reassuringly. Orynthia looked slightly worried and quickly asked for volunteers. An extremely tall boy with large muscles yelled and walked up to the stage. Caoimhe glared at him: he'd been the one who had laughed when Cato's name had been called. Cato murmured a thanks and began to walk back down into the crowd.

"I'm not doing it to save your skin, punk. I'm doing it 'cause it's the last year I can, and I'm gonna win." the older boy said to him in an undertone.

"Excellent!" Orynthia said as the older boy took his place. "Who are you?"

"Darren Wood. I'm eighteen, and I'm gonna win the Hunger Games for District Two!" he yelled with such enthusiasm that Caoimhe couldn't help but believe that the boy, Darren, would win. The two were made to shake hands. Darren smirked at Caoimhe, who, in return, used her death grip on him. When they let go of each other's hands, Caoimhe was pleased to see that she'd left a red mark on Darren's hand. The Panem anthem played, and Caoimhe couldn't resist singing along with the rude words she'd written to the tune of it.

"Freak." Darren muttered as the two were taken into custody.

"At least I didn't fall out of the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down." was Caoimhe's snide reply.

The hour for goodbyes was slightly awkward for Caoimhe. Her family came in, and the five shared a group hug.

"I told you so." she said as she pulled away from them. Marcus's eyes widened and Victoria growled slightly. A single tear rolled down Clove's face and Cato was sobbing. Caoimhe had never seen her brother like that: he was usually so tough, the one Caoimhe and Clove always went to for support. The twins hugged one another again.

"I'll miss you." Cato managed to say between sobs.

"Don't think like that." Caoimhe reprimanded as the door opened and a tall, wiry lady came in. Caoimhe and Cato's real mother. She threw her arms around Caoimhe, muttering about the twins' father and how he would protect Caoimhe if she asked nicely.

"Death is not your fate, no. Not yet." she said, and Clove looked at her incredulously.

"I can see where I got my zaniness from!" Caoimhe exclaimed, smirking.

"Insanity, you mean." Marcus said, shaking his head. "We'll leave you two to it." He walked out of the room, closely followed by Victoria, Clove and Cato. When they left, the mood in the room was decidedly awkward. Caoimhe was making the 'awkward turtle' gesture while her mother hugged her, muttering about her fate, and how it wasn't her time yet.

"Mum, get off me." Caoimhe said as the doors opened and the room was filled with manic laughter. Caoimhe's friends had arrived. Ms Castellan let go of her daughter, and walked out of the room, still babbling about Caoimhe's fate. Caoimhe hugged each of her friends in turn, which they all thought was slightly awkward as Caoimhe was the only girl, before the youngest, Ollie, spoke.

"You're awesome, Key. You'll go down fighting, for sure." Caoimhe kicked him, and he indignantly said "What was that for?"

"You said I would die. I'm not going to think like that."

"Key, the only people you hurt are us and your brother. You're not gonna be able to kill anyone." Caoimhe's best friend, Lucas, said, shaking his head.

The boys keep giving Caoimhe 'encouragement' until the Peacekeepers came and said that their time was up. Caoimhe was led to the train, where she gasped as she saw the array of food and drinks.

"Can I have some?" she asked, her eyes shining at the prospect of binging on goats' cheese and cream soda. The Peacekeeper nodded, and Caoimhe poured herself a glass of cream soda and piled up a plate with various types of cheese, primarily goats' cheese, Camembert and Brie. She ate constantly for a few minutes until Darren entered, looking at her in disgust before sitting down and grabbing a bread roll.

Over the duration of the train ride, Caoimhe ate various delicacies, including rare steak, which she dipped in melted dark chocolate, lambs' hearts, samphire (a crisp coastal plant which Caoimhe thought was perfectly salty) and wholegrain pasta in olive oil. Darren continued to give her dirty looks, which she responded to with sweet smiles. The train reached the Capitol, and Caoimhe leapt up to wave at the many citizens who were waiting to catch a first glimpse of the tributes. Darren also stood up, shoving Caoimhe out of the way and giving the multi-coloured people a winning smile as he waved at them. Caoimhe glared at him and began to eat again. Darren turned to look at her.

"How are you not fat?" he asked, staring incredulously at the girl's lithe figure. She shrugged in response. The train came to a standstill, and Darren got off as soon as the doors opened, while Caoimhe stuffed more samphire into her mouth and pockets first.

**A/N: This was fun to write! I hope you enjoyed it! Thank you to my friend Kat (KFRkitkatKFR) for creating Darren and me (yes, I am really thanking myself) for creating Caoimhe. I know I made Cato and Clove a bit young, but I'd already made it the 71st Games before I did the maths. Sorry if Cato seemed a bit OOC, but a nervous Cato who had just been reaped alongside his twin sister would be very different to an excited one who was in the games because he volunteered and was looking forward to killing people. Also, I would like to recommend an extremely funny fanfic, POOH GOT SHOT by SasuNarufan4ever. It's a Winnie the Pooh crackfic, and it is absolutely HILARIOUS!**


End file.
